Apparatus for fire control



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May 11, 1937. c. H. "MORGAN 1 2,079,625 APPARATUS foR FIRE CONTROL IFiled Aug. 21, 19:54 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Ely-d2 H-Mnr |an May 11, 1937. c.H. MORGAN v 2,079,625

APPARATUS FOR FIRE CONTROL Filed Aug. 21, 1934 2 SHeets-Sheet 2CURREQTA'D 7'0 DIRECTM Inventor lycla H Mnr 'an Patented May 11, 1937UNITED STATES APPARATUS FOR FIRE CONTROL Clyde H. Morgan, Lakewood, OhioApplication August 21, 1934, Serial No. 740,803

2 Claims.

(Granted under the act of March 3, 1883, as amended April 30, 1928; 3700. G. 757) The invention described herein may be manufactured and usedby or for the Government for governmental purposes, without the paymentto me of any royalty thereon.

The subject of this invention is apparatus for fire control.

The main objects of the invention are to provide a mechanism forcorrecting the height furnished by a self-contained base height finderthrough the use of one or more auxiliary stations at the extremities ofknown base lines; to provide a system in which corrected values ofheight are supplied for final computation of data.

The system is so designed that; should an auxiliary station becomeinoperative a switch may be made to another auxiliary station and thesystem continues tofunction; should the computing mechanism becomeinoperative, the system still functions by directing the heightdetermined by the self-contained base height finder directly into thedirector.

With these and such other objects as may hereinafter more fully appearthe invention consists in the novel system and structure hereinafterdescribed and claimed it being understood however, that changes in theprecise embodiment of the invention herein disclosed may be made withinthe scope of what is claimed without departing from the spirit of theinvention.

In the drawings illustrative of the invention:

Figs. 1, 2 and 3 are extracts from the altimetric roof shown in Fig. 4to make more clear the calculations involved;

Fig. 4 is a view of the altimetric roof, showing a location of a targetT, a primary station P, and one of the auxiliary stations P;

Fig. 5 is a schematic view showing the arrangement of the stations and aform of calculating device.

Referring to the drawings by characters of reference:

From Fig. 4, which shows a primary station P and one of the auxiliarystations P, we have the relation sin a'= sin a where e represents theelevation angle at the auxiliary station and a. the azimuth angle at theauxiliary station.

Having previously determined the values of C, H, A and a, the values ofe" and a for the auxiliary station are computed and transmitted to theauxiliary station. If the optical axis of the telescope at the auxiliarystation is not accurately upon the target when the values of a and e areinserted, it is due to error in the value of H, as the other factorsentering the computation are either known or accurately measured.Accordingly a differential correction for H is set in at the auxiliarystation and transmitted back to the primary station and through thecomp-uting mechanism. In this manner new values of e and a areautomatically and continuously generated, the operator at the auxiliarystation merely keeping the optical axis of the telescope at that stationon the target by inserting the required differential value for H. Thedifferential value of H is added to the original estimated or measuredvalue and furnishes the corrected value of H which is transmitted to theguns or to a director for determination of firing data.

While this system may be carried out in various ways, as throughcalculations worked out by personnel or by the use of any well knowntransmitting and calculating devices, there has been shown herein onepreferred form of calculator which is incorporated in the system.

At the primary station P is provided a height finding telemeter I ofwell known design, the elevation angle of which is transmitted to thecalculator through the line 2, and the azimuth angle a of which islikewise transmitted to the calculator through the line 3. The height,as determined by the height finder l, is transmitted to the calculatorthrough the line 4.

The means of transmitting such data is old and well known and forms nopart of the present invention.

The value of the elevation angle is set into the calculator throughrotation of a cam designed to produce a lift proportional to log Got 6in a follower 6 formed with a rack meshing with a pinion l on one end ofa shaft 8 on the other end of which shaft is a pinion 9 meshing with apinion l0 rotatable with one element of a differential II. The movementproportional to log cot e is combined in differential II with a movementproportional to log H through means of the follow the pointer handoperated mechanism l2 and shaft I3 and the resultant movement, log 0 orlog H+log cot e, is imparted to shaft l4 and from it to shaft l5 throughthe medium of gearing l6 which has a 2 to 1 ratio.

Shaft l4 moves proportional to log C while shaft l5 moves proportionalto log 0 The shaft I 5 has mounted thereon a cam I! designed to lift itsfollower l8 proportional to C The 01- UUH lower I8 is provided with arack meshing with a pinion I9 on a shaft 20, and the shaft 20 isconnected through gearing 2I with a shaft 22 which drives one side of adifferential 23 imparting thereto a movement proportional to C The valuelog B is set into the instrument through the medium of a hand wheel 24on a shaft 25 which shaft drives, through gearing 26,

shaft 21 which, through gearing 28 having a 2 to 1 ratio, drives shaft29 on which is a cam 30 designed to impart a lift to its follower 3|proportional to B The follower 3| is provided with a rack meshing with apinion 32 on a shaft 33 which shaft drives the planetary gears ofdifferential 23 so that the resultant movement from the differential isproportional to B +C and this movement is imparted to a shaft 34connected to one side of the differential.

The value a. is introduced into the instrument through a shaft 35 which,through gearing 36, drives a shaft 31, and this shaft in turn, throughgearing 38, drives a shaft 39 on which is a cam 40 designed to impart alift to its follower 4| proportional to log cos a. The follower 4| isprovided with a rack meshing with a pinion 42 on one end of a shaft 43the other end of which has a driving connection with one side of adifferential 44. The other side of this differential 44 is connectedthrough a shaft 45 with a differential 46 one side of which is driventhrough the shaft 25 and the other side of which is driven through ashaft 41 connected through gearing 48 with the shaft I4. The resultantmovement of differential 46, log BC, is imported through differential 44to shaft 49 which, through gearing 50, drives a shaft 5| with movementlog BC cos a, driving through gearing 52 a shaft 53 on which is mounteda cam 54 designed to impart a lift to its follower 55 proportional to 2BC cos a. The follower 55 is provided with a rack meshing with a pinion56 on one end of a shaft 51 the other end of which has a drivingconnection with the planetary gears of a differential 58, one side ofwhich is driven by the shaft 34 and the other side of which drives ashaft 59, of movement A or 3 0 -2 BC cos a, which, through gearing 60,imparts motion to shaft 6| and this shaft in turn, through gearing 62,drives shaft 63.

Mounted on the shaft 63 is a cam 64 designed to impart to its follower65 a lift proportional to log A The follower 65 is provided with a rackmeshing with a pinion 66 on a shaft 61 which, through the 1 to 2reduction gearing 68, drives shaft 69 proportional to log A. The shaft69, through gearing I0, drives shaft H, which shaft is connected to anddrives one side of differential 12, the other side of which is driventhrough gearing I3, shaft I4, gearing I5 and shaft 16 giving a resultantmovement proportional to log This resultant movement is imparted toshaft I1 and, through gearing I8, to shaft I9 connected to one side ofdifferential 80. The planetary gearing of differential receivesmovement, log sin a, from shaft 8| which is driven through gearing 82 bya shaft 83 which shaft is rotated through a pinion 84 fast thereon andengaged by a rack formed on the follower 85 of cam 40. The other side ofdifferential 80 drives shaft 86 which, through gearing 81, drives shaft88 and the rotation of shaft 83, through gearing 89. im'parts rotationto shaft 90,

log sin a=log sin a-I-log E and cam 9| mounted thereon. The cam 9| isdesigned to impart a lift to its follower 92 proportional to a and thelift of the follower, through its rack, rotates pinion 93 and shaft 94which,

log =log tan 0 drives shaft I 05, gearing I06, shaft I01, gearing I08,shaft I09 and its cam H0. The cam I I0 is designed to impart a lift toits follower III proportional to e. The follower, through its rack,rotates pinion II2, shaft II3, gearing H4 and shaft II5 connected to adata transmitter II6 through which the value of e' is transmitted to theauxiliary station.

The value a is transmitted to the auxiliary station through line Ill andthe value of e is transmitted through line H8. The transmitters andreceivers are any of the old and well known devices now in use for suchpurposes. The telem-- eter or telescopes, as the case may be, at theauxiliary station, indicated by the numeral I I9, is elevated andtraversed in accordance with the received values, which, if the value ofH was correct would place the optical axis of the instrument on thetarget. If the target does not appear on the cross lines of theinstrument then the instrument must be moved to place the cross linessquarely on the target. This movement imparted to the instrument istransmitted through line I20 back to the primary station where it isincorporated through differential I2I into the setting of the instrumentat the primary station, and also into the calculating device, ordirector.

I claim.

1. In a system for gun fire control, a height finder, an auxiliarysighting instrument at a predetermined distance therefrom, a calculator,means for transmitting data from the height finder to the calculator,means for transmitting resulting data from the calculator to the auxiliary instrument, and means for transmitting corrections in heightnecessary to place the auxiliary instrument on the target back to thecalculator.

2. In a system of gun fire control, means by which height of a targetmay be measured, an auxiliary sighting instrument at a predetermineddistance therefrom, means connected to and operated from the heightfinding station for calculating necessary data, means for transmittingsuch data to the auxiliary sighting instrument, means for transmittingcorrections in height necessary to place the sighting instrument on thetarget back to the calculator, and means for transmitting the resultingheight to a fire control instrument.

CLYDE H. MORGAN.

